Creekside Seafood:
The Trawler RestaurantMt. Pleasant, SC

A seagull shares the view of Shem Creek from just outside a window of the Trawler Restaurant.

The Trawler Restaurant (see map) in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina, first opened in 1967 as an oyster bar. As business increased, rooms were jack-legged onto the original structure until the restaurant was a rambling, 15-room building.

The first time my family and I ate there, nearly twenty years ago, we gobbled crackers and complimentary crab dip while we waited for the waitress to come to take our order. After ordering we descended a wide, somewhat rickety staircase to a profuse salad bar arranged in an old wooden boat.

Gone is the dip and the salad boat … gone, in fact, is the entire rambling, 15-room eatery. In 1989 a raging, unstoppable fire consumed the restaurant.

Soon, however, a new structure was constructed and almost complete. Then Hurricane Hugo paid a devastating visit, leaving the owner, Horst Semper, with the daunting task of starting over once again.

The Trawler was, of course, rebuilt on the same site, its lovely location on Shem Creek in Mt. Pleasant … which is indeed a pleasant town snuggled up beside Charleston. (I'm not sure about the “Mt.” part … to me the land seems basically flat!)

My family and I recently dined at the restaurant mid-week, mid-afternoon, mid-March. We had a choice of tables at that time of day. Because it was breezy and a bit cool, we chose to eat inside, rather than on the deck which sits out over the bank of big Shem Creek.

Nevertheless, the view of the water and boats from our dining room table was delightful.

Excellent broiled flounder was accompanied by a perfect baked potato.

Flowers on each table and cloth napkins add to the agreeable ambience of the eatery. I ordered a plain and simple meal … foods which many restaurants can't seem to successfully produce. My broiled flounder was excellent … not dried out or rubbery … mistakes chefs/cooks often make. My baked potato was perfect. A majority of restaurants nowadays seemingly do not know how to bake a spud. Hushpuppies and coleslaw accompanied the fish.

A seafood pasta dish.

My husband Henry and daughter Sarah both had seafood pasta dishes. Son David ordered a Shrimp Po'boy and son Jonathan chose a blackened chicken breast sandwich. The “boys” thought that the French fries and coleslaw were above average, and they've eaten lots of fries and slaw.

The restaurant is in the process of changing hands (only the third time since it opened), but Monique Semper Flynn, daughter of long-time owner Horst Semper, and Scott Flynn, Monique's husband, will stay on as managers of the restaurant.

A pleasant tradition in a pleasant setting … that's the Trawler Seafood Restaurant at 100 Church St., Mt. Pleasant, SC.

The Shrimp Po'boy at its impressive arrival.

The coleslaw's elements were distinguishable, in contrast to the soft glob presented at some other establishments.